


Trees Don't Make Christmas

by kel2780



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-12 02:44:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9052108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kel2780/pseuds/kel2780
Summary: Reddington is having a problem and requests Lizzie's help, but it's Christmas and she quickly grows frustrated with his antics.





	1. Picking Trees

“Elizabeth, Raymond needs your help.” Dembe’s voice came crisp and clear across her cell phone. 

It was nearly 10pm on Christmas Eve and Liz was out frantically finishing up some holiday shopping amongst the mad thongs of people doing the same.

“Dembe, it’s Christmas Eve, surely he…”

“Please, Elizabeth,” Dembe broke in, “it’s not pretty.”

A wave of panic rushed through her body as images of Red being shot flooded her memories. Emotion was typically hard to discern from Dembe’s voice alone, but the words brooked no argument. Raymond was in trouble and Dembe was calling her, no doubt this was bad.

Liz drove out of the city and headed into the darkness of rural Virginia as directed by Dembe. She followed the back road and it seemed to keep getting darker outside as the trees became thicker around her. She found the unmarked dirt road into the trees, no doubt used by forest rangers to access the hidden depths of the woods. She pulled her car up to Red’s Mercedes and parked behind it. 

As she got out of her car and shut the door, she immediately heard raised voices not far into the trees. She pulled out her concealed handgun and flicked the safety, walking cautiously toward the voices. What she discovered was not the impending doom she had imagined.

Dembe was leaning against a large tree with his hands folded in front of him, watching Red argue with Mr. Kaplan.

“No, the Douglas Fir is absolutely the best type! Don’t you know the difference?” Red exclaimed, voice slightly raised. “Trust me, this tree will outlive any silly pine you can find.”

Sighing loudly, clearly exasperated with her employer, Mr. Kaplan replied, “Do you see any Douglas Fir trees here? We’re in Virginia. How can we go wrong with a Virginia Pine?”

Liz sidled up beside Dembe, flicking the safety back on her weapon and holstering it in her back. “What is this, I thought you said Red needed me and it wasn’t pretty?”

“Trust me, this isn’t pretty. They’ve been out here for over an hour fighting about what tree to cut for Christmas,” he said, pointing aimlessly at the surrounding pines.

“You’re kidding me…” 

Just then, Red noticed the presence of Elizabeth joining their merry party in the woods. “Elizabeth! Surely you’ll know how to settle this…” he said, motioning her over. “Douglas Fir or Virginia Pine?”

Liz smiled and nodded to Mr. Kaplan who stood firm to her spot in the cold winter night. “Um… you’re talking about trees? Reddington, when Dembe called me, I thought it was urgent. This is what the emergency is?”

“Of course it’s an emergency Elizabeth, it’s Christmas Eve!”

Patience growing thin, Liz pinched the bridge of her nose, trying desperately to talk herself out of pulling out her weapon again and using it on Reddington. “I’m well aware it’s Christmas Eve, I was shopping when Dembe called.”

“Well then, you’re already in the Christmas spirit aren’t you? Excellent. So? Which tree works better?” He looked at her with all the expectancy of Christmas in every toddler on the planet. She was already impatient, having to complete her shopping on Christmas Eve, but now this infuriating man was asking some nonsense about trees? Really?

Liz took a slow steadying breath, exhaling with purpose before answering quietly. “Reddington… I don’t know anything about trees. We’ve always had a fake tree for Christmas. Low maintenance and all that.”

“Surely Sam always had live trees for Christmas, come now Lizzie, you can’t tell me that he neglected to provide you with one of the best traditions of Christmas? Smelling a live tree and decorating it with popcorn garland and candy canes? If I know Sam, he’d make sure that Christmas was the biggest production possible.”

“Yes, I grew up with live trees,” she said, “but when we went to pick a tree, it was in the daylight, at a tree farm, and we just pointed at one that looked nice.” She was counting her points out on each gloved finger. “Who ever knows what kind of tree it is?”

Reddington looked at her like she had grown another head. Then it occurred to her that he probably knew all of the varieties of trees and where they grew best and under what climate… After all, every time she saw him relaxing in a safe house he was reading. The libraries she had seen included all kinds of books, not just classic literature. No doubt he was well-read on tree varieties.

“As I said before,” she had had enough by this point, “I was shopping when Dembe called and I still have more to do. So if you’ll excuse me.”

She turned to walk back toward her car and passed Dembe without a look in his direction. Reddington was glued to his spot in the forest, flabbergasted. It was Christmas, wasn’t it? Hadn’t she been in good cheer just yesterday when he saw her at the Post Office? What changed he wondered. A simple discussion about trees couldn’t have set her off.

When Liz reached her car, she got in and slammed the door shut. The blissful silence of the car angered her further, so she screamed into the void, gripping the steering wheel tighter and shaking as if she could break it loose. She peeled out of the forest as quickly as she could, leaving ruts in the gravel behind her. 

She hated how easily Reddington could piss her off, but this was nothing new. He’d been doing it for years. Just like flipping a light switch, boom - instant anger. What a way to top off her Christmas! She was already stressed enough trying to finish up her shopping. Of course it was his fault that she hadn’t had time to do it earlier. Blacklisters caused the team to work overtime and her long hours only exhausted her beyond belief, giving her no choice but to go home and fall into bed before doing it all over again the next day. She hadn’t even decorated her apartment!

“Well, now I’m going to put that behind me and finish what I started earlier.” She had gotten into the habit of talking to herself ever since Reddington entered her life. If nothing else, she would voice her concerns to the silence. “Back to the mall!” she stated emphatically.


	2. Mission: Christmas

Hours later saw Reddington prepping his team outside a facility in Bethesda. “I know it’s Christmas Eve and I will personally apologize to each and every one of your family members, but you must realize that time is of the essence here and if I could do this at any other possible time, I would have.”

The four man team was nodding in understanding, knowing that he never mistimed anything.

“This job has to be quick in order to avoid detection. The camera systems take pictures at five second intervals, so we have to crack the lock fast. Once we’re in, grab the boxes and move. In-and-out in two minutes. Understood?” Reddington was in his element commanding black ops missions. This one required stealth and speed.

In a matter of seconds, one of the men had used bolt cutters and snapped off the lock, moving just out of camera sight before the next still was taken. In the next window, the others moved inside the facility and began identifying the haul. Marked boxes were taken out, one by one, in between the security camera’s surveillance. The job was done in less than two minutes, as required. Once the boxes were loaded into the van, the team pulled out in no less than five minutes from arrival.

“Nicely done, gentlemen. Unfortunately you’re needed for another hour or so before you can have the rest of the year off.” Reddington apologized again for using their services on Christmas Eve and intended to include a hefty bonus in their next payment.

At her apartment, Elizabeth had made it home from her shopping excursion with less than she wanted, but enough to go around. She planned to carefully wrap the gifts for her co-workers before heading off to bed, exhausted and still a little miffed at Raymond Reddington.

She lie in bed calming herself down from her late night activities and hoping that the gift she got for Reddington was enough for the Concierge of Crime. She believed the thought counted more in this case, for after all, the man wanted for nothing. She fell into a dreamless sleep shortly after, dead to the world from all of her rushing about.

When she awoke in the morning, the daylight was pouring into her bedroom through her curtains. She glanced at the clock on the dresser, 8:36am. It had been so long since she had slept in, but her late night combined with the stress she’d been suffering from chasing blacklisters caused her body to demand the rest.

Groggy from the deep sleep, she wandered into the bathroom to shower. When she came out, she pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt, heading toward the kitchen for much needed coffee.

When she turned the corner to the living room, she startled and gasped aloud at the sight before her. There stood a six-foot tall Christmas tree decked out with all of her own ornaments and decorations. Her eyes were wide as she saw the angel Sam always allowed her to place on the top of their tree in Nebraska. She had memories of him lifting her from the floor to top the tree every year and tears came to her eyes as she collapsed to the ground. 

After several minutes of crying and marveling at the tree and all of the memories connected to each ornament, she began to put all of the details together in her mind. She hadn’t had time to decorate from working long hours the previous weeks, Reddington’s fiasco in the woods, his shock at her temper and questioning of her Christmas spirit… she reached for her cell phone charging on the table, hitting #1 on her speed dial.

After two rings, he answered. “Merry Christmas, Lizzie! How are you feeling this morning? Did you get your shopping done last night?” He was still too cheerful in spite of how she’d left him in the Virginia darkness last night.

“Red, I … the tree, last night, I…” she was only getting her breathing back to normal after crying at the beautiful sight in her living room.

His chuckle was a warm sound over the phone, “Yes, Merry Christmas Lizzie. Last night was a holiday mission like none other and thanks goes out to several individuals for assisting me.”

“But how did you get all of my ornaments and decorations? They’ve been in storage since I moved out of the house with Tom…” she was perplexed but hadn’t considered whom she was addressing.

“Let’s just say that your storage unit in Bethesda needs a new lock.” He laughed again recalling the stealth they used for such a simple task. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the gifts beneath the tree will make up for that.”

Only then did Liz notice several wrapped presents under the tree. “Red, you didn’t have to… the tree and all of the decorating was enough.” She was feeling guilty for treating him so badly, but he was having none of it.

“Nonsense. It’s Christmas. Trees alone don’t make Christmas, Lizzie, people and experiences do. And regardless of your feelings last night, I was glad to see you and to know that you came as far out of the way as the Virginia forest at Dembe’s behest. I know I interrupted your last minute shopping and for that, I apologize. I’m certain I deserved your anger.”

“No, please, I should be the one apologizing. I have a gift for you. Won’t you come over to the apartment and spend Christmas with me?” She was still worried that her temper tantrum last night would make him deny her request.

“I’d love to, Lizzie.”

An hour later there was a knock at the door. Liz answered and Reddington came into her apartment, removing his hat. “Well I must say the tree and all of the decorations look much better in the daylight.”

“It’s beautiful Red, thank you for doing this.” She smiled at him and took his coat. Before she could turn around, Reddington had presented her with a small wrapped gift box. “There’s more? Red, please, you’ve done too much already.”

“Open it.”

As Liz carefully unwrapped the solid red foil, she revealed an elongated felt box and felt awkward at the prospect of jewelry from Reddington. When she lifted the lid, there was a worn golden locket inside. She looked up at Reddington with questioning eyes.

“It was your mother’s,” he whispered. As she turned it over, there was an engraving on the other side. “It says, ‘to Katarina love Papa.’”

Again tears came to her eyes. She began to wonder if all she would do today is cry at the beauty and thoughtfulness of others. No, not of others, she thought, of one man. This man. She rushed toward him and hugged him tightly to her, crying softly into the shoulder of his jacket.

“You’re welcome, Lizzie. Merry Christmas.”

“Oh! I have a gift for you as well!” She rushed back into her bedroom and came out with a large wrapped box. Red had seated himself on her sofa and scooted forward to use the table for opening his present. As he tore away the paper, there was a carved wooden box underneath with a checkered chessboard on top made of ivory and jade. Inside were chess pieces made from the same material.

“Lizzie… this must have cost you a fortune.” He was astounded at the craftsmanship of the pieces and carefully removed each one for closer inspection.

She smiled down on him and said, “Gifts don’t make Christmas, people and experiences do. And today, I’ve had some of the greatest experiences of my life, with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for bearing with me through this WIP. The holidays have been difficult for me and writing only came after they had passed. 
> 
> Merry Christmas to all of my Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook friends!


End file.
